Policeman Nehum M. Pratte

Nehum M. Pratte

Policeman Pratte was shot and killed during a conflict between secessionists and Union soldiers in 1861. Five battalions of the 2nd Regiment, US Reserve Corps, Missouri Infantry Volunteers were marching through St. Louis on their return from St. Charles when a shot rang out from a second floor window on Olive Street. Another shot was simultaneously fired from the sidewalk by a man who had just been released after being arrested for yelling insults at the troops. The shots fatally wounded a Private and seriously injured a Captain, who is alleged to have given the order to return fire. Union troops began shooting, sending a volley of bullets into the crowd and several local buildings. Policeman Pratte, who was on the Recorder's Court balcony at the time, was struck in the lung by a bullet that entered the North courthouse window. He succumbed to the injury ten minutes later.

Policeman Pratte was 28 and had served with the St. Louis Police Department for almost 11 years at the time of his death. He was survived by his wife and two small daughters, and he was interred in the Bellefontaine Cemetery in St. Louis.